Setting aside impropriety

Uriel Quilinguing .

Often, standard operating procedures are being complied with simply because many have been used to it:  even if it is unreasonable, insensitive, and exposing individuals in risky situations to become outright suspect once unexpected events occur.

One of the common practices during an election period is the delivery of official ballots from the Commission on Elections main office to the local government units days before registered voters will be casting their votes in scheduled elections.  Obviously, there’s nothing irregular here, except that the official ballots and eventual election returns and other vital pieces of document are to be deposited at the local treasurer’s office.

From the time this opinion writer became cognizant of electoral exercises and became an observer of political contests, post-electoral mass actions and protests are staged at city halls and municipal buildings because the contested election returns, and the official ballots subject for recounts are kept at there.

This country is not deprived of the brightest of minds, many are legislators, policy and decision makers and yet not one of them thought of freeing the treasurer’s office of local government the headache of keeping official ballots and election returns; documents which could fulfill political ambitions of contending parties. It’s as if they are not aware local chief executives hold office in the same building where vital electoral documents that can make or make politicians are stored.

There are so many election laws, aside from resolutions, which the Comelec and her deputized government agencies enforce before, during and after elections, but most of these measures are mere amendments of  the Omnibus Election Code, otherwise known as Batas Pambansa Blg. 881.

And this 34-year old law, obviously a remnant of the late President Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorial regime, is the culprit why official ballots and election returns are kept at the office of the city or municipal treasurer.

Section 186, Article XVI, Official Ballots and Election Returns, of the OEC, provides that the “provincial, city or municipal treasurer shall respectively keep a record of the quantity and serial numbers of official ballots as election returns…” In fact, the city or municipal treasurer may provide official ballots should the Comelec’s official ballots are not enough during elections.

Whoever crafted this portion of the law must have learned a lesson from a Comelec which was under Malacañang’s dictates and relegating the responsibility of keeping official ballots and election returns to the city or municipal treasurer was the only option left then.  In one instance in the past, those involved in the canvassing of election returns walked out since they could no longer be dictated upon.

But things have changed since 1985, the year the National Assembly (Parliament) crafted what would eventually become Comelec’s “bible.”  From the manual writing of names, counting of votes and ballots kept in padlocked ballot boxes to oval-shading on official ballots and feeding these to automated vote-counting machines (VCMs) for storage and printing of election returns. This, even as the functions of city and municipal treasurers should be confined on local finances, overseeing government spending, and ensure proper collection of taxes.

It’s about time Comelec should take full responsibility of the official ballots, the VCMs and election returns; the sole government agency tasked to conduct the elections. Though Comelec may seek the support of other government agencies but it can totally relegate functions that are fundamentally hers.

It’s about time for our lawmakers in Congress to completely repeal the Omnibus Election Code and craft a law that is not only comprehensive but responsive to  the call of the times.

And finally, it’s about time the Comelec’s budget be gradually increased so that, aside from hiring additional personnel through the creation of new plantilla positions,  it should construct its own office buildings and warehouses that can store VCMs, official ballots and other electoral paraphernalia.

Also, Comelec should have state-of-the-art equipment and much-needed mobility support, all these vital for human resource development of Comelec personnel and deputized agents, and for a year-round registration of voters, cleansing of voters’ list, and in voters’ education campaigns.

Setting aside impropriety, standard operating procedures may still be observed in the performance of vital functions but these should be based on reason, all intended to ensure clean, honest, accurate, meaningful and peaceful elections.